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Tuesday, April 05, 2011

Happy Days with Jamie: Roasted Carrots and Beets with Pork Chops

This meal made me happy. It was an impressive meal…it wasn’t difficult to toss together and I learned a few things about beets.

For instance, if you want your veggies to be tender you may pre-boil them for a short time, about 20 minutes. The smaller the beets the better as, they will be more tender after a 20 minute boil (unless you want to cut them into smaller pieces.)

Also, did you know if you handle a hot beet to peel it that you will drop that hot beet on your counter?

Did you also know that a hot beet traveling just a short distance from your scalded hand to the countertop will gain enough velocity to splatter….alot.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Put the carrots into a large pot and the beets into another, and add enough water to cover them. Season with salt and bring to a boil. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes until just tender, then drain and place in separate bowls. Peel the beets, and cut any larger carrots and beets in half or into quarters. Smaller ones can stay whole.

Now add the flavorings while the vegetables are still hot.Toss the carrots with half the smashed garlic and a tablespoon of olive oil, salt and pepper. Add the orange juice and the thyme leaves and toss again. Mix the beets with the rest of the garlic, the rosemary, balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper.

Place the vegetables either into separate ovenproof dishes, or together on a large roasting pan with the carrots in 1 half of the pan and the beets in the other. Place in the middle of the preheated oven and roast for around 1/2 hour or until golden. (I used two different dishes)

While the carrots and beets are cooking, prepare the chops and press a sage leaf onto the meat. Season with salt and pepper.

Cook the chops with about a TB of olive oil, turning over after 8 minutes or so. After that place in the oven until cooked through. (For my oven it was 10 minutes) They were so juicy!

Pour most of the fat out of the pan and add a squeeze of lemon juice to it. Stir and scrape the bits off the bottom and drizzle all over the chops. Remove the carrots and beets from the oven - they should be nice and sticky by now. Serve them with the chops and a glass of wine.

Another tip: When roasting the beets in a pan with the balsamic vinegar mix will result in a burnt mess that is awful to try and scrub out. I wasn’t about to throw out my glass dish so I soaked it in hot water with a bit of Dawn dishwashing liquid and a ½ cup of white vinegar. You still need a bit of scrubbing but I saved my dish.

Love that picture of Jamie with the pig's head. He sure is a character, isn't he? You may not believe this, but I've never ate a beet AND I've never worked with them either. I definitely want to give them a try soon. Looks great!

I need to give beets another try. I love them and eat them, but have only tried making them once. They seemed to cook for hours and were still hard. I didn't parboil them and that might be the answer. As soon as they appear in the farmers' markets, I'm going to give Jamie's prep a go. Thanks for a great post.